Rugby Oldham

After serving as Chairman of Rugby Oldham from 2007 Iain Taylor has stood down but will remain a member of the Board where his expertise will continue to be of great use. A popular figure, Iain is a former PA Announcer for Oldham RLFC and host of several dinners and fund raising events in times past.

His replacement as Chairman is Geoff Cooke, a Board member since the formation of Rugby Oldham. Geoff was the publisher of the Roughyed fanzine in the 1990's at the time of the Oldham Bears. From 1997 to 2001 he edited the new club's programme and as proprietor of Saddleworth Sports was a regular sponsor at Roughyed matches and programme advertiser.

For the first time Rugby Oldham has appointed a Vice-chairman in the form of Tim Hughes a local solicitor and keen Oldham fan like his father before him.

In addition Mike Kivlin, a Roughyeds fanatic and occasional sponsor, takes over as Membership Secretary.

Rugby Oldham continues to boast a talented and committed team of Board members offering support to professional, amateur and junior rugby in the town.

Rugby Oldham is not a Supporters Club in the sense that ORSA is. We fully support ORSA's commitment to fund raising for the day to day financing of ORLFC. However, Rugby Oldham is and always has been interested in the issue of a ground suitable for professional rugby within the borough. Our current position on this is that we are awaiting contact from Chris Hamilton as to future developments and like the Chairman himself find ourselves in limbo until such time as various issues around planning and finance are sorted out.

As an organisation we would always welcome new members and anyone wishing to serve on the Board. Details can be found on our website.

Nigel Marland, Chairman of ORSA, has asked me to post the following statement on behalf of the organisation :-

Oldham Roughyeds Supporters Association (ORSA) would first of all like to express their best wishes to the new Rugby Oldham Committee and welcome their expression of support for ORSA’s activities. Secondly, we would like to clarify our own situation, as we appear to have been incorrectly credited with fund-raising to run the day to day finances of Oldham RLFC. Though we are sure that the Club would very much appreciate that being the case, it is certainly not our role as a supporters’ club.

ORSA is the official supporters’ club of Oldham RLFC but is run totally independently of the Club itself, with a dedicated bank account. All the current committee members have been long-term Oldham supporters and are keen to extend their interest, in support of Oldham RLFC in a constructive way, recognising a need to strengthen the link between the fans and the Club.

ORSA’s role is to support the playing and backroom staff in whatever way possible and that includes some payments being made to the Club in the form of sponsorship. For the current season, we are sponsoring 2 players, are sponsoring the Supporters ‘Player of the Season’ awards and with the aim of raising the profile of the organisation, are proud shirt sponsors. In addition to sponsorship, ORSA has also been responsible for the provision of funding to the backroom staff to provide the players with post-training nutrition and more recently, for the purchase of equipment to benefit the players in post-match recuperation.

The Squad Strengthener Fund is also administered by ORSA and this enables individuals/groups to support the signing, on loan and otherwise, of players required to boost the squad over and above the Club’s player budget. For this purpose another bank account is held and records are kept separate from the main ORSA account.

ORSA’s role is fully endorsed and appreciated by the current coaching and back-room staff as an important way to assist them in taking the Club forward and with a view to extending this assistance it is intended to raise further funding by holding various events. The first of these is a Quiz Night, which will be held on Wednesday, 28th August at 8pm in the Oldham Lyceum Theatre lounge on Union Street (the entrance is on Union Street at the bottom of Clegg Street), and entry is just £1 per head. The event is open to everyone and is an opportunity to join other ‘Roughyeds’ and friends to have some fun and raise money for the ultimate benefit of our Club.

We are always looking for new members or anyone who is able to contribute to our endeavours in any way, so if anyone wishes to do so, they should please contact the Secretary, Grant Somerville, on 01706 844810.

Nigel Marland, Chairman of ORSA, has asked me to post the following statement on behalf of the organisation :-

Oldham Roughyeds Supporters Association (ORSA) would first of all like to express their best wishes to the new Rugby Oldham Committee and welcome their expression of support for ORSA’s activities. Secondly, we would like to clarify our own situation, as we appear to have been incorrectly credited with fund-raising to run the day to day finances of Oldham RLFC. Though we are sure that the Club would very much appreciate that being the case, it is certainly not our role as a supporters’ club.

ORSA is the official supporters’ club of Oldham RLFC but is run totally independently of the Club itself, with a dedicated bank account. All the current committee members have been long-term Oldham supporters and are keen to extend their interest, in support of Oldham RLFC in a constructive way, recognising a need to strengthen the link between the fans and the Club.

ORSA’s role is to support the playing and backroom staff in whatever way possible and that includes some payments being made to the Club in the form of sponsorship. For the current season, we are sponsoring 2 players, are sponsoring the Supporters ‘Player of the Season’ awards and with the aim of raising the profile of the organisation, are proud shirt sponsors. In addition to sponsorship, ORSA has also been responsible for the provision of funding to the backroom staff to provide the players with post-training nutrition and more recently, for the purchase of equipment to benefit the players in post-match recuperation.

The Squad Strengthener Fund is also administered by ORSA and this enables individuals/groups to support the signing, on loan and otherwise, of players required to boost the squad over and above the Club’s player budget. For this purpose another bank account is held and records are kept separate from the main ORSA account.

ORSA’s role is fully endorsed and appreciated by the current coaching and back-room staff as an important way to assist them in taking the Club forward and with a view to extending this assistance it is intended to raise further funding by holding various events. The first of these is a Quiz Night, which will be held on Wednesday, 28th August at 8pm in the Oldham Lyceum Theatre lounge on Union Street (the entrance is on Union Street at the bottom of Clegg Street), and entry is just £1 per head. The event is open to everyone and is an opportunity to join other ‘Roughyeds’ and friends to have some fun and raise money for the ultimate benefit of our Club.

We are always looking for new members or anyone who is able to contribute to our endeavours in any way, so if anyone wishes to do so, they should please contact the Secretary, Grant Somerville, on 01706 844810.

My sincere apologies to ORSA. It was not my intention to mislead anyone about ORSA's role. I expressed myself badly as I am fully aware of what ORSA do and fully support the time and effort put in by its officers and members. I hope ORSA goes from strength to strength. This statement might actually be a good thing as it may help ORSA recruit new members (well let's hope so anyway!). Please accept my very best wishes.